His Happiness
by SasuNarufan13
Summary: All he wants is for his son to be happy and finally make some friends. It takes a winter day in the park to finally have that happening. Minato's pov; AU; slash; mentioned bullying; more warnings inside


**Author's note: *gasps* What's this? Two new oneshots in three days time? It's a miracle! Don't get used to it :P This is something random - again - that popped up in my head this evening and I figured, why not? Apologies if it sucks _**

**Warnings: Minato's pov; alternate universe; Naruto with a limp and scars; some angst; mentioned bullying; slash; fluff; happy ending. I think that's it, let me know if I need to add anything else!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.**

**I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

**His Happiness**

His son greeted him with a high pitched squeal when he opened the front door. He had just enough time to drop his bag before the little boy jumped into his arms, his chubby arms slung around his neck and his legs tightening around his waist.

"Daddy, you're home!" six year old Naruto cried out happily, pressing a couple of kisses on his cheeks. Judging by the faint smudged imprint of red on his lips, he'd got into his mum's make up again.

"Hey, Naruto, you've been good today?" he chuckled, hugging him back before carefully lowering him onto the floor again.

"I helped mummy make a cake!" Naruto stated proudly; his big, blue eyes shining in the light.

"And he was a really great help." Kushina entered the hallway, walking over to them. She brushed a hand over Naruto's messy, blond hair and said, "Naruto, go wash your hands, hon; it's time to eat."

"Okay!"

They watched him scramble up the stairs as fast as his legs would allow him to; the steps creaking underneath him.

"Welcome home," Kushina said softly, kissing his lips.

"I'm back." He hung his scarf away and unzipped his jacket. "How did it go today?"

Her smile stilted. "Oh you know, business as usual." She turned around and went back to the kitchen where the scent of roasted chicken wafted over to them.

He sighed and after exchanging his shoes for his house slippers, he followed his wife into the kitchen. "Did you go to the park today?"

"Yeah, for three whole hours," she muttered, checking on the boiled potatoes. Abruptly she dropped the lid on the counter and turned around to lean against the edge, rubbing her hands over her face. "They all ignored him the entire time we were there, Minato. Not one kid even looked at him twice."

He went over to hug her, stroking her red hair while staring at the sautéed carrots, remaining silent. Everything that could be said, had already been said before.

"How can kids be so cruel? He's already an outcast in his own class, now he's even one at the park as well?" She shook her head, pain darkening her normally bright purple eyes. "I don't know what we can do anymore, Minato. We can't keep moving around in the hopes of finally finding one kid who'll look past his scars and his leg."

"I know, Kushina," he said quietly, turning off the flames underneath the pot and the pans while keeping her pressed against his chest.

They had already moved twice and she was right: they couldn't keep moving. It was hard, though, seeing his son spending his days alone because no child wanted to play with him. Of course he and Kushina played with him as often as they could, but it wasn't the same, they realised that.

Naruto had been born with a slight limp; his left leg being a bit shorter than his right. It didn't hinder him that badly; he could walk, jump, run around just like any other kid, only his running was slightly slower. Adjusted shoes made it easier for him as well and if he wore them, his limp was even barely noticeable. If it had just been his leg, Minato thought there wouldn't be much of a problem.

When Naruto had been barely two years old, however, he'd got into an accident. He'd been attending day care for a week when he'd managed to escape from his caretaker's sight and by the time she'd found him, it had already been too late. He'd got into the kitchen where a pot with boiling water had just been put on the table and the one handling it had just stepped outside to handle a call. Curious about the pot, Naruto had pulled at the table cloth with all his strength and the pot had toppled over, together with some empty glass bottles. His right forearm ended up being severely burnt by the water and when he'd fallen onto the floor in shock, his cheeks had got sliced by the broken bottles.

The cuts on his cheeks had required several stitches and to this day the scars were still visible, even though they were quite thin. His right forearm had healed but still bore faint red burn scars as well.

It could have been worse, both he and Kushina realised that. The whole incident could have ended a lot worse than it had, but four years later that was a meagre comfort when they had to watch day after day how their son was forced to play on his own, because no other kid wanted to be near him.

They saw his scars and called him ugly and a monster. They saw his limp and they called him weird and a slowpoke. Two different schools later and there was still no change in the way the other children treated him.

It hurt. It hurt his heart to see his son being ignored for something he couldn't help, being taunted and called names just because of some scars.

He and Kushina had talked with teachers and they in turn had talked with the class, but it seemed that no matter what they did – involve the school, go to the park, attend birthday parties – nothing changed.

"Oh, is it huggie time?" Naruto asked excitedly, wriggling his way between them.

Kushina laughed, all traces of grief wiped away in a flash, and picked him up, swinging him onto her hip. "Yes, huggie time before we eat dinner! Let's make that a new tradition!"

"Yay!" Naruto clapped his hands, grinning brightly, before hugging them both tightly, talking animatedly about the games he and his mum had played today.

Blue eyes met purple and Minato tightened his grip around his little family. Silently he wondered just how much longer he would be able to see his son's bright smile, before it would vanish, chipped away by the cruelty of others.

* * *

"Daddy, that's the new boy in my class," Naruto whispered, tugging at his sleeve.

"Where, Naruto?" Minato looked up from the grocery list, his eyes trailing over an elderly couple perusing the cucumbers, a young guy shoving a salad into bag and a couple of young families checking the fruit.

"There." Naruto pointed at someone right in front of them.

Minato followed his finger and spotted a boy with dark hair, spiked in the back, standing next to an older boy. The older boy was holding open a bag while the younger one was putting tomatoes in it. They stood several feet further down the aisle and a half filled cart stood right behind the bigger boy.

"Well, why don't you go say hi to him?" Minato encouraged him.

Naruto had mentioned a new boy joining his class around a week ago. His name was Sasuke or something like that and his family had just moved into this town because the father had got a better offer in a company. Minato remembered being a bit amused when Naruto had first mentioned the new kid, because he'd insisted several times that he was incredibly pretty, but of course, not as pretty as his mum!

Well, nearly as pretty as his mum, which coming from Naruto was very high praise.

He furrowed his eyebrows when Naruto hunched his shoulders and shook his head. "No, it's okay," he muttered, looking away.

Growing suspicious, Minato knelt down and grabbed Naruto's hand. "Hey, buddy, what's wrong? Did the new kid say something mean?" If so, he would march straight over to that kid and set him straight. He didn't care whether the kid was the same age as his son; he was getting beyond fed up with other children treating his son badly.

"No, no!" Naruto shook his head frantically, shooting quick glances at the other boy. "He's not mean, I … It's just … I don't think he'll like me."

"Why wouldn't he? Have you tried talking to him?"

"He's pretty and … I'm not." Naruto stared down at the floor, looking miserable. "All the kids already like him and they don't like me, so he won't like me either."

"You're not ugly, Naruto," Minato said firmly. "The other kids are stupid, they don't know how amazing you are."

"But daddy, my scars - "

"Don't make you ugly," Minato said, making his voice stronger. "You know what mummy says about the scars on your cheeks, right?"

"That I look like a fox and foxes are cute," Naruto muttered, rubbing over his left cheek.

"And this one," Minato lifted his right arm, "is barely noticeable anymore. There's nothing wrong with your scars, Naruto; they're proof of how strong you are. You're just as pretty as Sasuke-kun is; the scars don't matter, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Naruto muttered, but it was clear he didn't entirely believe his dad.

Minato sighed and flicked the tip of Naruto's nose gently, making him blink and rear back a bit. "Do you want to go and say hello? I'll be there with you."

Naruto turned his head to look at the dark haired boy and gnawed down on his lip for a while. For a moment it looked like he would actually go up to Sasuke and say hello, but then the boy walked away with the older kid and disappeared behind the corner. Naruto's shoulders slumped and he looked away defeated.

Minato gave him an encouraging smile and squeezed his shoulder softly. "You can say hello to him when you see him in class on Monday, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto said softly and fidgeted. "You think he'll like me, daddy?"

The cautious hope in his son's voice broke his heart, but he hid it with a cheerful smile and rose up. "Of course he will. What's not to like about you? I bet you'll be best friends soon!"

Naruto beamed at him, already cheered up again, and he started chattering about which kind of cereals he wanted to try out now.

How could anyone look at his son, see his happy, bright smile and his glowing, blue eyes; the way he thrummed with energy and happiness; his eagerness to bestow his affection on anyone he liked and not like him? All Naruto wanted was someone to be his best friend.

That wasn't too much to ask for, right?

* * *

After so much time being bullied and ignored, Naruto had become rather adept at masking his sadness with a smile. The more he chattered and jumped from one subject to the next, the harder he was trying to hide his hurt, his parents knew. It was a defence mechanism, born out of the need to protect himself against the hurtful comments kids liked to hurtle at him.

So when the new school week started and Naruto's chattering increased to double of what it normally was – and he was already quite the chatter bug, something he'd inherited from his mum – as the days passed by, Minato feared the worst.

"Do you know if he tried talking to the new kid?" he asked Kushina in a low voice while they were doing the dishes. She washed them and he dried and put them away, while Naruto was finishing up his jigsaw puzzle in the adjoining room before he would go to bed.

Purple eyes flicked at him briefly before they returned to the bowl she was washing. "No, I asked him about it a couple of times this week," she murmured and sighed nearly inaudibly. "He said the new kid's constantly surrounded by their classmates and you know how Naruto is."

Yeah, he knew. Already being scorned by his classmates, there was no way Naruto would dare to approach the new kid while he was surrounded by the rest of the class. That would only give the kids more incentive to be hurtful and Naruto was trying his hardest to get them to like him. He shouldn't care about those little arseholes, but Naruto had always been like that. Even after being taunted by them, he was still hoping they would change their minds and finally accept him.

It was awful to witness his son trying again and again, only to be spurned each time. All because of some scars and a light disability.

"_Children can be crueller than adults sometimes," _his old sensei, Tsunade, had once said and he unfortunately had to concede she was right.

Children could be downright awful.

"We really need to do something about this," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "You think a new conversation with his teacher will help?"

"We can try," she sighed, pulling off her gloves after she'd cleaned the pan and had drained the water. "You still up for going to the park tomorrow? He's been looking forward to spending time with his dad the whole week."

"Of course I am," he reassured her. "I made sure I'm off the entire weekend, so I can play with him."

"Thanks, babe." She tugged him down by his tie and pecked his lips. "I'm glad he has you as a father."

"I don't think he can complain with you as his mother either," he smiled, warmth filling his chest when a genuine, bright smile spread out across her face.

With all the worrying about their son, it had been a while since he had last seen her really smile.

"Everything will be all right," he promised, draping the dishcloth open over the edge of the sink.

She snuggled into his chest, linking her hands together behind his back. "I hope so, because I'm this close to being done with playing nice. Next time my baby comes home in tears because of those little douchebags, I'm going to rip them all a new one, including their parents."

"I'll be there to help you," he murmured, kissing the top of her head.

Kushina had been holding herself back in an admirable way – especially considering her fiery temper – but everyone had a breaking point.

They would reach theirs soon if nothing changed.

* * *

"Thank you," he smiled when the old woman handed him two cups with hot chocolate milk.

"Enjoy!" she told him cheerfully, before turning to the next customer.

He turned around, holding a cup in each hand, and started walking back to the bench where Naruto was waiting for him. His breath escaped him in visible clouds and he was glad for the extra thick coat he was wearing. It was nearing Christmas and winter had firmly settled into the country. It hadn't started snowing yet, but the weather forecast had already made mention of it for the third week of December. Hopefully it wouldn't snow too badly, because he didn't want to imagine what kind of nightmare it would be to drive through snow to his work.

He smiled when he saw Naruto obediently waiting for him, still on the bench; his bright orange jacket standing out starkly amidst the sea of dark winter coats. He opened his mouth to announce his arrival, but abruptly shut it and halted when he saw a dark haired child walking over to Naruto.

It was the kid he'd seen in the store a few weeks ago.

The new kid Naruto wanted to befriend, but didn't dare because he feared he wasn't good enough.

He stood there, only a couple of feet separating him from the bench, and watched the boy stop in front of Naruto. He saw his son stiffening, his shoulders hunching, and he had half a mind to go over there, worrying something bad was happening.

He took a couple of steps closer and came within hearing range right on time to hear Sasuke ask, "You want to play with me on the swings?"

"Who, me?" Naruto squeaked startled, pointing at himself.

Sasuke cocked his head to the right. He wore a long, dark blue coat and the lower half of his face was covered by a pure white scarf. The scarf couldn't hide how rosy his cheeks and the bridge of his nose had become from the sharp, cold wind.

"Yes, you, who else?"

"The kids on the monkey bars?" Naruto suggested meekly.

Minato couldn't help but feel amused when Sasuke rolled his eyes, a gesture he probably picked up from someone in his family.

"I'm not interested in them," he huffed. "I'm asking _you_. So?"

"Oh, ehm, I'd like to," Naruto said shyly and jumped when Sasuke snatched his right hand and pulled him straight off the bench.

"Good, come on. I can push you first and then you push me!" Sasuke stated and didn't seem to mind that Naruto stepped a bit slower than him.

Minato watched them walk together to the swings where Naruto sat down on one of the free ones while Sasuke walked behind him and started pushing him.

_His son was playing with another kid for the first time in his life._

He told himself that the burning sting of tears in his eyes was because of the wind suddenly picking up. It definitely wasn't because someone else was finally nice to his son.

"You don't have to worry about my brother; he's a good kid, he won't hurt your son."

Minato almost jumped three feet in the air and nearly spilt his drinks when a voice piped up next to him. When he turned his head, he saw it was the same kid he'd spotted next to Sasuke in the store. Crap, he hadn't even heard him approaching! How freakishly silent was this kid?

"Sasuke-kun's your brother?" he asked; his gaze swivelling back to the two boys at the swing. Even with the distance, he could hear his son laughing when he flew high in the air and he smiled.

"Yes," the boy nodded and bowed, "I'm Uchiha Itachi, nice to meet you."

"Namikaze Minato, nice to meet you too, Itachi-kun," Minato smiled and then looked at the drink in his left hand. He glanced at Naruto and then offered the cup to Itachi. "You want some hot chocolate milk, Itachi-kun? I think my son's a bit too preoccupied to drink it now."

Judging by the sight of the two boys together, he thought it would be a while before Naruto would notice Minato was standing here. He thought he should be angry that Naruto had just left the bench without warning him when he'd specifically been told to wait, but …

When he saw how happy Naruto looked, playing with Sasuke, all he could feel was warmth spreading through his body, starting from his chest, despite the icy wind whistling around them.

For once he was glad Naruto wasn't doing what he was told.

* * *

Sasuke didn't care about the scars on his cheeks or the burn scar on his arm. He didn't care about the slight limp or the way Naruto could run his mouth about all sorts of things for hours on end.

He cared about Naruto. He cared about him as his best friend and later, much later, when they'd hit their late teens, he cared about him as his boyfriend.

"You were right, you know," Kushina murmured, wiping away tears.

Their son was crying too, happy tears, while he waved his hand bearing the silver ring with a square sapphire in the middle around. He kissed Sasuke over and over again from the spot on the floor, where he'd tackled Sasuke onto after the other man had proposed to him just now.

"Hm? About what?" Minato asked confused, paying no heed to how damp his own eyes felt.

Across from them, Fugaku was comforting his wife, who'd grown emotional after witnessing her youngest son proposing during their weekly family dinner. She was already talking about all sorts of things that needed to be arranged for the upcoming wedding and her stoic husband just sat there and nodded, but his dark eyes were gleaming with pride.

Itachi was teasing Sasuke about how long it had taken him to propose, unperturbed by the fact that his future brother-in-law was snogging his younger brother in front of him.

"About the fact that everything would be all right," Kushina smiled and nodded at the pair on the floor.

Sasuke had finally managed to sit up, but still had Naruto in his lap and the small smile on his face was just as bright as the grin adorning their son's face.

"I'm glad you went with him to the park that day," Kushina said and kissed his cheek.

He slipped his arm around her shoulders and caught her mouth in a soft kiss. "Yeah, so am I."

He would forever be immensely grateful that Sasuke had gone against the rest of the class and had befriended Naruto. For sixteen years already Sasuke had made their son happy and Minato knew the youngest Uchiha would make Naruto happy for many more years to come.

That was all that mattered: their son happy.

He caught Naruto's eyes from across the table and Naruto grinned widely, the scars on his cheeks crinkling a bit, and he proudly waved his hand around; the ring flashing in the dying sunlight.

Minato settled back in his chair and underneath the table, he tangled his hand with Kushina's; their own wedding rings warm against their skin.

Perhaps they could hold the wedding in the park; that was where everything had started after all.

Or well, it wouldn't really matter where they held it, he supposed, watching Naruto link his arm around Sasuke's neck and Sasuke turning his face to kiss his fiancé softly. Naruto would be happy no matter where they ended up marrying each other. As long as he had Sasuke, he would be fine.

And that was all that really mattered in the end: his happiness.

Minato smiled and tuned back into the conversation. They had a wedding to plan now.

**The End**

* * *

**AN2: Sorry if the ending is slighty weird, guys *sweatdrops* Endings still provide some difficulties for me, though I'm working on it!**

**Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.**

**I hope to see you all back in my future stories!**

**Cuddles**

**Melissa**

**P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.**


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